Action Force (weekly) 9
Action Force #9 was released on 26th April 1987. Original material Holding the Baby! Lady Jaye is standing in the street holding a bomb that was disguised as a baby with an active countdown and a trembler device. She stands wondering whilst Barbecue erects blast resistant shields around her and Crankcase tries to defuse it. Her only hope is for Flint and Footloose to get information out of the female Cobra agent, but she refuses. Flint grabs her and suddenly a photographer appears and takes a picture of what he calls "military brutality" for a newspaper. In the distraction the Cobra agent chops down Footloose and tries to flee but Flint grabs her, telling her if she doesn't co-operate she'll go up with the bomb. Crankcase calls him over and explains there are two wires leading to the detonator - red and blue - and cutting the correct one will defuse it but the wrong one will trip the trembler device. Flint handcuffs the Cobra agent to Lady Jaye and demands the agent tells them which wire it is but she refuses, saying she isn't afraid to die. Flint reminds her there are only twenty seconds and the agent starts to panic, eventually admitting it's the blue one which Flint cuts. The agent faints. Later Lady Jaye asks Flint what he would have done if the agent hadn't confessed. He says he tossed a coin - heads for red, tails for blue. Lady Jaye is aghast when he says it came up heads. Featured characters Featured Vehicles & Equipment Errors * Items of note * Reprinted material Ten pages of "Zartan!" from G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #25. Several modifications were made to the printing, including: *On the third page dialogue about Major Bludd and the Baroness in Switzerland was changed. It now stated that Cobra Commander had sent Wild Weasel to the swamps as punishment for the events of "Shake Down!", which had been previously reprinted in issues #3 & #4. *The eighth page of the original was excised to remove mention of the tracking device Major Bludd placed on Storm Shadow, who then mailed it to Florida, as "The Commander Escapes!" was not reprinted in the UK. * In addition Gung-Ho's wounds at the hands of Storm Shadow were now referenced to have occurred in the British story "Fast Feud!" in issue #7. Intelligence Profile This issue contains two Intelligence Profile factfiles: * Zartan - noting there is limited information on him beyond his mastery of camouflage and position within Cobra * Cobra Commander - noting that he is believed to have been educated at top European universities, though this is unconfirmed, before creating Cobra. Mail Call! The letters page continues to print letters about issue #1 and #2. Combat Colin Combat Colin struggles in the heat and vegetation... of his father's greenhouse! Action Force toy adverts * The issue includes a two-page advert for the Dragonfly XH-1 & Wild Bill, also highlighting the F.A.N.G., the Ferret A.T.V., the Armadillo mini tank, the Water Moccasin, Destro, Flint and Lady Jaye. Errors * Items of note * Footnotes Action Force 09